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Supreme Court takes dangerous aim at Voting Rights Act, as if racism were a thing of the past

APTOPIX Supreme Court Voti.JPG

People waiting in line outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 27. Justices are hearing arguments in a case challenging a provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that requires 16 states to get approval before they change the way an election is held.
(Photo by The Associated Press)

Although the political spotlight has been on sequestration cuts, the drama at the Supreme Court is also newsworthy. The conservative justices on the court are on the verge of taking down the most important piece of civil rights legislation ever passed, the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This act was a national response led by former President Lyndon B. Johnson to the brutal beatings and gassings of peaceful voting rights advocates by Alabama state and local police. This law, which gave the federal government the power to stop Jim Crow tactics to deny black folks from voting, is now seen by five justices as no longer needed. Really?

Here is what I don't get: Congress studied long and hard before voting in 2006 to extend the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. The vote in the Senate was unanimous, a 98-0 decision. How is it that, in just six years, racial relations could have changed so much as to make the findings of the VRA commission invalid? If anything, the recent attempts by Republicans in Pennsylvania and Florida and other states to disenfranchise minorities is evidence that things are getting worse and that the VRA is needed more than ever.

Here is an uncomfortable fact: We still have to deal with our nation’s legacy of racism and ongoing efforts (albeit more subtle) to deny blacks the vote. The brutality shown to blacks and those who fought for racial justice was not an insignificant aberration. It is a very dark part of who we were and, to some extent, still are as a nation. The level of fear and rage expressed in the Selma Bridge beatings is not something that just goes away in a few years. To pretend that racism no longer exists in America, as the conservatives on the court are implying, is offensive to every thinking person.

Even worse, the comment made by Justice Scalia that the VRA is simply an unnecessary “racial entitlement” exposes his utter contempt for non-white minorities. His statement was beyond shocking or insensitive. It is completely beneath the dignity of his office and is an insult to all who believe in the sanctity of a citizen’s right to vote. When all is said and done and all of the arguments are heard, if the SCOTUS votes in favor of Alabama's case, it will be a very sad day for America.